Northwest Oklahoma

By Jeff MullinSenior Writer

VANCE AIR FORCE BASE —The men and women who work inthe control tower at Vance Air ForceBase spend their days looking downon the bustle of activity at one of thebusiest air fields in the Air Force.

That is their present. But if theylook to the east, and up, they will seetheir future.

Getting a late startLooming over the present Vance

tower, which was completed in1972, is the new tower scheduled tobe opened later this year.

Construction of the tower wasdelayed because of a design changeinvolving the size of the elevator andstairwells. The areas must be largeenough to accommodate emergencypersonnel and a gurney. Thatdelayed groundbreaking fromOctober 2011 to last summer.

“That was probably the biggestdelay,” said Braven Dyer, projectengineer with U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers. “They had to go back andredesign to accommodate those twoitems. Our original completion(date) was May of 2012.”

Most of the tower is made of pre-cast concrete, said Dyer. The designdelays caused the Vance tower tolose its “place in line,” with the firmin Tulsa that manufactures the pre-cast pieces. A parking garage projectin Stillwater moved ahead of it.

The new projected completiondate, Dyer said, “is the million-dollarquestion.”

The contractors doing the con-struction say the new tower will befinished in late July. When the toweris complete, said Donita Hazlett,base civil engineer, the Air Forcewill have 60 days to move all equip-ment and furnishings out of the oldtower before it is demolished.

“The big thing is the communica-tions and the controlling equip-ment,” Hazlett said.

The tower project originally wasallotted $10.7 million through aninsert by Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla.,in the Military Construction andVeterans Affairs Appropriations Actpassed by Congress in 2009. But thefinal cost of the tower is expected tobe $9.5 million, Dyer said.

The cab floor of Vance’s presenttower is 63 feet high, which willreach only to the seventh floor of thenew tower, the cab floor of whichwill be 96 feet above ground level.

The new tower not only will betaller but larger — 6,665 squarefeet to the current tower’s 2,294.The present tower cab is 56 per-cent smaller than the Air Forcestandard, too small to accommo-date updated equipment and multi-ple controllers and trainees. Theold tower also has no elevator.

In addition, the new tower willmeet all safety and fire codes.

“There will be a lot better vis-ibility,” said Hazlett. “That wasone of the goals of the project,that the tower controllers andthe SOF (supervisor of flight)

have a lot better visibility.”That will be facilitated in part by

the shape of the cab, which was con-structed on the ground, then liftedinto place by a crane.

“The lines along the east-westside are longer, so it’s not symmetri-cal,” she said. “It’s got two longersides, which should give a lot better,clearer visibility to the folks up in thetower.”

Little more room to growVance has the fifth busiest air

traffic control location in the AirForce, said Lt. Col. DonaldCallaghan, commander of 71stOperations Support Squadron.

The new tower not only will helptrain student pilots at Vance but airtraffic controllers as well. Vancetrains a number of controllers in boththe tower and radar approach controlevery year. Currently there are 21 3-level air traffic control trainees atVance, with 10 more expected in thenext three months, Callaghan said.

“The new tower will add to ourexisting training capacity, since therewill be more room for controllersand trainees without overcrowding,”Callaghan said. “Since the newtower has significantly more area, itprovides for the inclusion of a roomdedicated to the tower simulator andseparate training and break rooms,drastically cutting down on crowd-ing and distractions.

“This added capacity will alsoallow for more dual-qualified con-trollers (those certified in both theRadar Approach Control and tower).The new tower also will incorporatenew equipment for airfield lightingand new digital voice recordingcapacity.”

The new tower will contain asimulator room, training classroomand offices. In addition, the simula-tor room will serve as a tornado shel-ter.

This will be Vance’s third controltower since the base was built in1941, Hazlett said.

Ongoing projects The tower is the only new con-

struction presently ongoing on base.An ongoing project involves renova-tion of the base’s enlisted dormito-ries. That is a $6.5 million project toreplace the heating and air condition-ing systems in the 1950s-era dorms,as well as modernizing the kitchens.One goal is to make the dorms moreenergy efficient and eliminate a pos-sible mold issue due to moisture onthe old heating and cooling lines.

“They’re doing the second of twobuildings,” said Lt. Col. RichardWard, deputy commander of 71stMission Support Group. “We’re onschedule with the second building.”

“We’re not going through andredecorating or redoing any of thelayout,” said Hazlett, “we’re prima-rily doing heating and air condition-ing to control moisture. We hadsome minor mold issues, nothingthat was a health risk, but we didn’twant it to get there. Plus the kitchenswere kind of dated.”

There is one kitchen on each

floor of the buildings, one of whichhas a capacity of 52, the other of 53.

A $30 million project for outsiderunway repair has been pushed backto fiscal year 2015 by Air Educationand Training Command.

“There’s no new constructionright now because we’re in a contin-uing resolution,” said Ward.

Department of Defense andCongress have declared a moratori-um in funding military construction(milcon) projects in FY 2013.

The courtyard area in the base’stemporary lodging facility is beingrevamped with construction dollarsfrom FY 2012. New lighting will be

added and sidewalks will be redone.“We want to make it so people

want to be outside and enjoy thatarea,” Hazlett said.

Dyer’s other project is installa-tion of high expansion fire suppres-sion foam systems for two ofVance’s hangars, 141 and 129. Incase of fire, those systems can quick-ly fill the hangar with foam to dousethe flames. That likewise is beingpaid for with FY 2012 funds. Thatproject is in the design phase.

“That’s so we have more capabil-ity to do more maintenance,” hesaid.

The base’s No. 1 future military

construction project is a proposed$17.9 million effort to expand andconsolidate existing flying squadronfacilities.

The goal is “to bring them up tosize standards,” said Hazlett,“because right now they are allundersized and significantlycramped.”

Besides, there are issues withheating and air conditioning.

“Their heating and air condition-ing systems, especially in the twomain flying squadron buildings, arevery old and antiquated,” he said.“They can’t keep up with the heatthat we have in the summer.”

■ Sunday, March 10, 2013 Enid News & Eagle Page designed by: Violet Hassler

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A crane lifts the cab for the new control tower at Vance Air Force Base into place on a recent Saturday morning. The framework for the cab was construct-ed on the ground, then hoisted into place. The new tower is expected to be open later this year. (U.S. Air Force photo by STAFF SGT. JAMES BOLINGER)

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TOWERINGVance’sVance’sprojectproject

Enid News & Eagle Sunday, March 10, 2013 ■ Page designed by: Violet Hassler

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By James NealStaff Writer

CHEROKEE — From crystal dig-ging to bird watching, trails and educa-tional programs, Salt Plains NationalWildlife Refuge provides memorableoutings for more than 140,000 visitorseach year, all possible in large part by thework of a dedicated group of volunteers.

Greg Birkenfeld, refuge manager,said the Salt Plains’ ability to offer publicprograms and maintain refugefacilities has been augmented sig-nificantly by the work of Friendsof the Salt Plains National WildlifeRefuge, a volunteer group formedin 2009.

Birkenfeld said the refugehas a paid staff of five people,including himself, responsiblefor managing the 32,000-acrerefuge, its trails, visitor center,selenite crystal digging area andpublic programs.

According to figures providedby Birkenfeld, more than 40,000people visit the refuge each yearfor crystal digging, and more than100,000 people visit the refuge forbirdwatching, trails and the auto-mobile tour.

“With the small staff we have,we wouldn’t be able to accomplishwhat we do without the volunteer help,”Birkenfeld said.

He said the friends group in the lastyear has helped build two new observa-tion towers, relocated a historical marker,assisted with conducting wildlife sur-veys, and helped stage public events.

“They’re a very important group,”Birkenfeld said. “They’re fairly new, butthey’ve helped us out tremendously.”

Sid Landwehr, president of Friends ofthe Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge,said the group just wants to “help outwhere we can.”

He said one of the big areas where thevolunteers are stepping in is the refuge’svisitors’ center. Volunteers are staffingthe center on weekends in the summer,allowing the facility to stay open duringthe height of the refuge’s visitor traffic.

“That is important to us,” Landwehr

said, “because it allows more people tocome in and see the refuge.”

He said the volunteers enjoy stagingpublic events that give more members ofthe public, particularly children, anopportunity to experience the naturalbeauty of the refuge and its wildlife.

One of the group’s largest events isCrystal Dig and Birding Festival in April.

Scheduled for April 26-28 this year,the event features three days of activitiesfor kids and adults.

Landwehr said this year’s festival willbegin the evening of April 26 with stargazing at the Great Salt Plains State Parkcampgrounds and a movie in Cherokee.

A full day of events is slated for April27, including a crystal dig, with prizes;bird watching with the refuge staff;nature trail walks; dedication of a newtrail; children’s activities and gamesincluding fishing, archery and woodcarv-ing; exhibits from Oklahoma City Zoo;and a guided bird watch in the evening.

“It’s really a good family deal, and agood way to get out and enjoy therefuge,” Landwehr said.

Volunteers also help stage the annualYouth Fishing Derby, set June 1 this year.

Friends of the Salt Plains NationalWildlife Refuge also are working tomake sure the refuge and the wildlife arepreserved for future generations to enjoy.

Richard Winn, vice president of thegroup, said the volunteers are workingwith Army Corps of Engineers on a planto dredge the lake and rehabilitate marshhabitats.

The habitats support hundreds ofthousands of migratory birds, includingthe endangered whooping crane, eachyear.

Winn said the lake has silted in overthe years, a condition compounded bythe ongoing drought. He said much of the

marsh area has dried up, cutting downon the habitat for migratory waterfowl.

“In a lot of places you only have afoot of water covering things under

normal rainfall conditions,”Winn said. “With thedrought, you’d have to huntreal hard to find a four-foot-deep spot in that lake.”

The volunteers are in theprocess of submittingpaperwork to the Corps ofEngineers to dredge fromthe dam, extending alongthe shore line and thenworking toward the centerof the lake.

Winn said the eventualplan is to dredge the entirelake and use the dredged siltto build up walkways and

existing islands.But, he said, administrative processes

involved in requisitioning a major Corpsdredging project are considerable.

“It’s going to be a long process,”Winn said, “and the more we getinvolved in it, the longer it seems it’sgoing to take.”

But, Winn said, preserving the refugeis worth the effort.

“It’s important to me to try to rehabil-itate the lake and keep the recreation andthe wildlife around,” he said. “If youhaven’t spent time watching the birdsaround the lake, you need to come up andcheck it out. A person just falls in lovewith it.”

For information on the Salt PlainsNational Wildlife Refuge go towww.travelok.com/listings/view.profile/id.6588.

Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge provides memorable outings for more than140,000 visitors each year. Pictured are some of the common sights at the refugeand state park (clockwise from top), including a small flock of pelicans standing onthe spillway at Salt Plains State Park; a sign greeting visitors at the entrance of therefuge near Cherokee; a shorebird viewing platform near the entrance of the refuge;a visitor using a garden spade to scrape the sides of a hole while digging for selenitecrystals at Salt Plains’ digging area. (Staff Photos and File Photos by BILLY HEFTON)

Friends of Salt Plains group augments the refuge experience for visitors

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It’s important to me to try to rehabili-tate the lake and keep the recreationand the wildlife around. If you haven’tspent time watching the birds around

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Richard Winn,vice president of Friends of Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge“


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By Jeff MullinSenior Writer

FAIRVIEW — In August 2010,Garet Edwards was approachedabout joining a fledgling mentoringprogram for young people in theFairview area.

But he decided he didn’t want tojoin the Mission Mentors group.

“I thought it was a good deal, butI probably didn’t have time for it anddidn’t think it was for me,” saidEdwards, who operates a cattleranch some 10 miles west ofFairview.

Given the fact the match supportcoordinator of the new group wasRandi Lackey, his wife’s first cousin,it isn’t surprising Garet changed hismind.

“They hounded me a little bit,”said Edwards of Lackey and hiswife, Kaci. “After I got into it I wasvery thankful they did.”

In the years since, the initiallyreluctant Edwards has become notonly a mentor but one of note. Firsthe was named Mission Mentors’2012-13 Mentor of the Year and, inJanuary, was one of 35 outstandingyouth mentors recognized duringOklahoma Mentor Day at the stateCapitol.

Mentors are asked to spend anhour a week with their mentee, butLackey said Edwards goes aboveand beyond that.

“I don’t think he really knewwhat he was getting himself into,”she said. “He has had a really goodtime with those boys. We ask for anhour a week, and they are together alot more than that.”

Edwards started out mentoringClint Swanson, whose family he hadknown for years. Six years ago in

February, Clint’s father was killedafter falling in the bathtub and hittinghis head.

So he took Clint under his wing,taking him hunting and fishing,among other activities. But now thatClint is 16, in high school aninvolved in sports and has a girl-friend, they don’t spend as muchtime together, Edwards said.

“We still hang out, talk andtext,” Edwards said. “It givesthem somebody to talk to. Iwas that age one time, andit is tough for a teenager.”

But Clint’s youngerbrother, Koby, now 14,“was just dying for me tobe his mentor,” Edwardssaid, and so he took overthat role.

“They are more like mylittle brothers than mentees,”said Edwards.

Besides hunting and fishing,Edwards and the boys have attendedthe International Finals Rodeo, gonebowling and attended local basket-ball games.

“They are good boys, a goodfamily, they just needed somebodyto take them to do boy stuff,” he said.

He admits he is uncomfortablewhen people praise him for hisinvolvement with the boys. He saidhe gets as much or more out of theexperience than they do.

“I take them fishing, and I maynot even get a pole out,” he said. “Itis fun to sit and watch those boyshave a blast. I take them deer hunt-ing, and I might not even get out ofthe truck, but they have a blast. It isjust rewarding to watch them growup.”

Garet and Kaci Edwards have aseven-month-old daughter, Katie, to

whom the Swansons are like bigbrothers, he said.

Mission Mentors has 85 volun-teer mentors, Lackey said, up from50 when the program began.

“Our goal is 100 by next year,”she said. “In a town of 2,500 people,that’s quite a few people involved.”

The program began afterFairview school superintendentRocky Burchfieldattended the

morn-ing perform-ance of a fourth-gradeplay at Cornelsen ElementarySchool.

“Twenty five to 30 percent of thekids didn’t have a parent there,”Lackey said. “Nobody was there towatch them. He drove back in for theevening showing, and it was thesame thing.”

In the wake of that incident,Mission Mentoring was born. It waspatterned after a similar program atWestern Valley Academy inOklahoma City.

The difference is under WesternValley’s program there is a mentorfor every child.

“We had to start with the oneswho needed it the most and grow

from there,” Lackey said.The goal of Mission Mentoring is

“to give them a special friend,” saidLackey. The program is open to anywilling adults, who must first apply,pass a background check and then beapproved by the group’s board ofdirectors.

Mission Mentoring’s school-based program is for students in

grades 1-5, anda l l

mentoring takes place at school. Inthe community-based program, foryoungsters in grades six through 12,mentors have “a lot more freedom togo other places,” with their youngcharges, Lackey said.

“One raises cattle, and he took hismentee out to work with him, andthe mentee had never seen a cowbefore,” she said.

Thus far, she said, the programhas been a success.

“We do surveys with the teachersat the end of every year, and they seechanges, better attendance, for onething, because the kids show upthinking their mentor might cometoday,” Lackey said. “The kids arehappier all around.”

For his part, Edwards said he haslearned much more about himselfthan he has taught the Swansonbrothers.

“I learned that there is more tolife than just your day-to-day

deal,” he said.To anyone thinking

about becoming amentor, Edwardssaid, he advisesthem to give it a try.

“I am the idealposter person forthis thing,” he said.“It doesn’t take a

whole lot of time,but a little bit goes a

long way. I know guyswho go down to the ele-

mentary school, maybe anhour a week, and those kids

look forward every week to seeingthat person, knowing that somebodycares.

“It has the same effect on theolder kids, they just don’t show it asmuch. There are plenty of peopleable to give an hour a week, and itmight mean a kid will be in thelibrary or the gym rather than roam-ing the streets.”

He says he is grateful his wifeand her cousin worked on him untilhe agreed to be a part of MissionMentors.

“At least try it,” Edwards said. “Itis worth everybody experiencing itonce. After the first sitting, I washooked.”

More information aboutFairview’s Mission Mentors pro-gram can be found at www.missionmentors.com.

FairviewMentor of the Year

Garet Edwards (second from right) poses withhis mentees, Koby (far left) and ClintSwanson, and former Tulsa mayor KathyTaylor, a trustee of Oklahoma Foundation forExcellence. Edwards was honored by OFE asone of 35 outstanding mentors from through-out Oklahoma. (Photo provided)

Mission Mentors program offers childrensomeone who can be there just for them

FRIENDin needa


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By Robert BarronStaff Writer

CANTON — Residents are try-ing to recover from a loss of a majorsource of industry: Canton Lake.

Oklahoma City claimed itswater rights to Canton Lake, due toa drought that has lasted more thana year, and began drawing 30,000acre feet of water from the lake lastmonth.

And as the water left, it also leftCanton residents wondering howthey will survive a loss of revenuegenerated annually from those whohave used the lake in the past forrecreational purposes.

One of the main attractions heldat the lake each year is fastapproaching. The annual Walleye

Rodeo, set May 16-19, is a majoreconomic driver.

But this year, participants maybe building sand castles instead offishing, as the lake is extremelylow.

The drawdown of the waterfrom the lake has left it virtuallydry, with much of the lake floorexposed and little fish habitatremaining. Supporters are consid-ering alternative events to take theplace of the traditional lake activi-ties, hoping to still attract annualparticipants.

Matt Fuqua, of Canton LakeAssociation, said a poker run isplanned, along with a 5K run andone-mile fun run/walk. The pokerrun will raise money for a teaminvolved with Relay for Life, a

cancer research fundraising event.A music festival also is scheduled,with several of the top area bandsrecruited to play, Fuqua said.

“We have all sorts of thingsgoing this year. We don’t want it tokeep us down,” Fuqua said.

Although still in the planningstages, the new Walleye Rodeoevents include a barbecue cook-off, culminating in a meal forpoker run participants and 5K run-ners.

Fuqua said it is not clearwhether the event will be expand-ed into a public feed. Also sched-uled is a show of classic vehicles,and the music festival will be heldon the rodeo grounds May 18.

Fuqua said CLA members wantto keep the fishing derby alive. TheWalleye Rodeo fishing derby is theoldest in Oklahoma, he said, andorganizers fear if they let it die, itwill be difficult to bring it back.

“We’re trying hard to make asuper weekend in Canton,” he said.

Members hope to replace thenormal water-based events withothers until the lake comes back,although no one knows when thatwill be.

A sand castle and sand sculp-ture building contest is plannedalong Sandy Beach Cove, Fuquasaid. He said the area makes themost sense to supporters, althoughpeople will have to walk quite adistance to reach areas where thereis water.

“We don’t know how big it willbe over time,” he said.

The loss of the water fromCanton Lake has dealt a big blowto the community, which basesnearly its entire income on thelake. Fuqua compared the loss ofwater to “a kick in the groin.”

“We want to keep the buzzgoing and keep people coming,”Fuqua said.

Donnie Jenkins, a tour guide atthe lake and owner of a hotel onthe lake’s edge, said he did not

know how the new events willaffect the Walleye Rodeo. Thestate biologist at the lake will talkto Army Corps of Engineers repre-sentatives about whether there willbe enough water remaining in thelake to stock walleye for the fish-ing derby.

“There should be some fish leftin it,” Jenkins said. “The town ishurt. Anything will help.”

Canton Lake was built for floodcontrol, water supply and irriga-tion. Later, secondary purposeswere included that added wildlifehabitat and recreation. OklahomaCity pays the Army Corps ofEngineers for rights to the water.

Oklahoma City officials hadplanned to seek the water for sometime but postponed the request aslong as possible, said Debbie Ragan,spokeswoman for Oklahoma CityPublic Utilities Department. Okla-homa City is using the water toreplenish its drinking water supplyin Lake Hefner.

Community working to keep its fishing derbyactivities from disappearing along with lake

STAY AFLOATSTAY AFLOATCanton trying to


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By Phyllis ZornStaff Writer

KINGFISHER — King-fisher and Capitol Hill highschool are partnering to thebenefit of both, thanks to a$71,000 Reward Grant fromOklahoma Department ofEducation.

Kingfisher is one of sixschools across the state toreceive the grant as part of theRaise the Grade Together ini-tiative.

“These schools are amongthe best performing schools inthe state,” said StateSuperintendent Janet Barresi.“To qualify for the grants,these educators had to be will-ing to share their best prac-tices and educational strate-gies with schools in the mostneed. I’m thrilled to be able tooffer this financial incentivefor excellence and am pleasedwith the willingness toembrace such partnerships.”

Jason Sternberger, super-intendent of Kingfisher PublicSchools, said a portion of the

grant money will be given outamong the entire Kingfisherschool district.

“We’re making a donationto the education foundation,”Sternberger said. “When theywrote the grant they wanted tolet all the teachers have some-thing.”

The reason is because eachteacher in the Kingfisher sys-tem contributed to the highschool’s success, he said.

“Of course the high schoolis going to have a big celebra-tion later this spring or at thestart of the school year,”Sternberger said.

High school staff will havea professional developmentretreat provided by grantmoney, and each library in theKingfisher district will getabout $1,500 as well,Sternberger said.

Kingfisher got to choosewhich school to partner with,Sternberger said. Among thestate’s priority list of schoolsin need of improvement,Capitol Hill, in OklahomaCity, was closer in proximity,

Sternberger said. SammyJackson, KHS principal, saidthe ways in which the partner-ship with Capitol Hill willflesh out will be driven bywhat the Oklahoma City highschool needs.

“We’ll meet with CapitolHill and their professionalsand see what they need helpwith,” Jackson said. “We’ll letthem kind of determine whereit goes.”

For instance, if math is aweak area for students atCapitol Hill, math will be anarea that gets much focus,Jackson said.

Kerri White, assistant statesuperintendent of educationalsupport, said the purpose ofthe grant is to see schools cel-ebrate successes while seek-ing continuous improvementin student learning, schoolculture and professionalgrowth. The ultimate goal isto see schools removed fromthe Priority School list whileseeing an increase in the num-ber of Reward Schools.

State Department of Ed-ucation will monitor mentor-ing activities between the twoschools. The grant period runsfrom now until June 2014.

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By Robert BarronStaff Writer

GARBER — The town is usingsomething new to restore something old.

An old drugstore building in down-town Garber is being remodeled toinclude a public library and museum thatwill focus on early day Garber, whichoriginated as an oil field community.Funds are mostly from increased cityrevenue generated from renewed oil andgas activity in the Mississippi Limestoneformation in northern Oklahoma andsouthern Kansas.

Hal Long, chairman of the “drugstorecommittee” in Garber said about $7,000has been spent to place a new roof on thebuilding and begin other renovations.

The building, which contains a backbar and soda fountain, will be separatedinto one area for a public library and anarea where volunteers will read to localchildren.

Long said the soda fountain and backbar are original with the building.

“It makes a nice centerpiece to havehistorical things built around,” Longsaid. The building was donated to GarberCommunity Improvement Association

about two years ago, and supportersbegan to discuss the project then. In addi-tion to the new roof, Long said a dropceiling was installed and the walls will berenovated as a place to hang photos andother mementos. Glass cases will beplaced so historic items can be viewed.

The rear of the building, where medi-cine originally was stored, will be de-signed to resemble an early day drug-store and separated from the public withglass, Long said. The committee alsomay try to purchase a lot adjacent to thedrugstore and place some smaller,antique equipment to resemble an earlyday oil field.

“Plenty of people have oil field equip-ment they would donate,” Long said.

The city is named after MartinGarber, whose family participated in theLand Run of 1893, claiming land that isthe town today. Today, Garber has a pop-ulation of 822, according to the 2012census.

Martin Garber is the father of MiltonC. Garber, a former U.S. congressman,Enid mayor, newspaper editor and judge.

In October 1899, Garber Town Co.,owned by brothers Milton C. and BurtonA. Garber, platted the town.

Hal Long stands at the soda fountain bar inside the old drugstore, in downtown Garber, that is being renovat-ed into a musuem thanks to a boost in town revenue from oil and gas activity. (Staff Photo by BILLY HEFTON)

As history repeats, Garberto SHOWCASE its past

just

Kingfisher to pay forward success

REWARDSStaff Photo by BILLY HEFTON


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By Cass RainsStaff Writer

MEDFORD — Increased plays in oil andnatural gas exploration has brought a boost toMedford’s economy.

That means improvement throughout thetown, as well as growth in area sales tax rev-enues and school enrollment.

“I think for the most part everyone is lovingit,” said Medford City Manager DeaMandeville. “It’s brought increased business tothe downtown, especially the cafes, the gro-cery store and convenience store.”

Industry workers have filled propertiesthroughout Medford, even leading to theremodeling of some homes.

“I think the landlords are happy. There’s notvery many vacant properties,” Mandevillesaid. “We’ve even had several houses that satempty for several years that have been pur-chased, remodeled and rented.”

Areas schools have reported increasedenrollment, and the few problems brought onby the resurgence in the energy industry areproblems other towns would be envious to calltheir own.

“The main thing is housing, especially tem-porary housing,” Mandeville said. “A lot ofthese workers have an RV they live in whileworking here. Sometimes it’s difficult for themto find a place to park.”

She said in the past two years, three newtrailer parks have been built in the area becauseof the boom.

“I would say our sales tax is up 35 to 40percent,” Mandeville said. “We’ve had proba-bly, with all the houses, we probably haveanother 15 new water customers.”

The boom also has attracted several foodtrucks. They set up along the highway duringthe lunch rush to feed hungry workers. Thetrucks are there Monday through Friday andbring in quite a crowd, Mandeville said.

Although there were indications the boomwas coming, Mandeville said she did not antic-ipate what has occurred.

“We heard there was going to be someactivity going on,” she said. “You go down tothe courthouse and see all the landmen in the

courthouse looking at land deed books, so youknow something was going on.

“It is way bigger than I ever anticipated itwould be.”

Mandeville said city officials realize theboom eventually will end and they are trying tonot get involved in projects they cannot affordwithout added benefit of the energy industry intown.

“We don’t want to get wrapped up in proj-ects that will cost more than what we canafford to maintain,” she said.

Mandeville said the city just wrote a grantfor a new swimming pool. If approved, someof the money would go toward that project.

She said other capital improvements areplanned, such as new awnings, dugouts andfencing for the baseball field and some sewerline replacement.

“We have had so much truck traffic,” shesaid. “That is going to be an issues for thecounty when this is all over.”

Mandeville said temporary housing is ingreat need. She said she wishes someonewould build another motel.

“The motel here, there’s just no vacancies.She’s booked.”

The oil boom also has brought related busi-nesses to Medford.

Beck Oil Field Supply of Hennessey hasopened an operation in town.

“We’re excited to have them here,Mandeville said. “They’ve invested with us inMedford.”

Best Well Service is open two miles out-side of Medford. Mandeville said RemoteOil Field Services also has purchased abuilding in town and plans on moving oper-ations downtown. There is also a new

Subway sandwich shop inside the Jiffy Trip.“Things are looking up,” Mandeville

said. “I think most people know this ismaybe another five years and this is goingto be over. I think they appreciate we’regoing to conserve the money and not blowthrough it.”

Mandeville said the city plans to takeadvantage of the boom but not spend morethan it should.

“We’re going to be doing some communityimprovement projects and improvements tothe city,” she said. “There will be some wearand tear in the city when this is all over but notto the extent of what the county and state willbe doing.”

Mandeville has worked for the city ofMedford for 25 years, 11 as city manager. Shesaid she remembers the last oil boom.

“I can remember in the late-’70s and ’80swhen there were oil wells going in then,” shesaid. “We never thought it would come backlike it has.

“For the most part I think people are happyit’s happening.”

Medford cautiously enjoying returning oil field action

IN BUSINESSback

Irma Gonzales (above) shows Terry Johnson the soda selec-tion at the Grab-n-Go food truck in Medford. Mobile home lots(left) are for rent in the town. (Staff Photos by BILLY HEFTON)

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FAIRVIEW — Major Countycurrently is enjoying a boom in itseconomic development, thanks inlarge part to the county’s centrallocation for oil and gas activity in theMississippi and Woodford oil plays.

While new drilling has remainedslow in Major County, the countyhas become a central staging area forservice companies working inAlfalfa, Woods and Grant countiesto the north, and Blaine County tothe south.

Oil field service yards that wereabandoned in 2009-10 have reachedcapacity again, often under newownership or new leases for newservice companies that have beenattracted to the area.

Fairview City Manager PaulSouthwick said formerly vacantservice yards and Fairview IndustrialPark are full of oil field service com-panies, most of which are staging inFairview and working in surround-ing counties.

Southwick said having all ofthose new workers in town is boost-ing the city’s sales tax revenues.

“They’re not long-term business-es that are going to be here forever,but for five, six years ... they aredriving growth in our sales taxincome,” Southwick said.

The presence of Oil field servicecrews also is driving high occupancyrates in Fairview motels.

Southwick said local rooms “staypretty-well full,” and the city isexploring a development agreementto build a 50-room hotel at 722 N.Main, near the Main and State inter-section downtown.

Southwick said the city is “stillnegotiating but getting very close”on a development agreement, and hehopes to have the developmentunder way by June.

Major County EconomicDevelopment Corp. also is taking

extra steps to capitalize on theincreased economic activity.

The MCEDC business incubatorcurrently is operating at full capacity,with four businesses occupyingincubator space.

Current businesses in the incuba-

tor program are Gloss MountainHomes, From the Woods BBQSauce and Pickles, LearningRx ofNorthwest Oklahoma and John’sFarm Organic Whole Wheat andBeef Products.

MCEDC office manager JaNaeBarnard said MCEDC staff alsoworks with businesses throughoutthe county to provide help with busi-ness plans, financing, marketing,accounting and legal questions.

Barnard said Fairview and MajorCounty businesses are receivingincreased exposure from an electron-ic billboard placed in 2011 at theU.S. 412 and Oklahoma 8 junctionin Orienta, north of Fairview.

The billboard offers 24 rotatingadvertisements, and Barnard said

MCEDC has a waiting list for busi-nesses wishing to advertise on thebillboard.

MCEDC Chairman MarkStubsten said demand has been sohigh for incubator space and busi-ness development services, MCEDC

is in the process of building a newspec building to house additionalbusiness expansion in the industrialpark.

Start of construction on the 3,400square-foot spec building wasdelayed by the Feb. 25 blizzard.

“That spec building has beenbrought about by a tremendousamount of interest in the industrialpark by a number of companies that

came into this area because of the oiland gas industry,” Stubsten said.

MCEDC also is pursuing con-struction of a new duplex to helpmeet housing demand in the com-munity.

Stubsten said that project is in theinitial planning stages but likelywould involve MCEDC building theduplex and selling it to a propertymanager.

“We don’t want to go into thehousing business, and we don’t wantto go into the rental business,”Stubsten said, “but we do want tohelp address the housing issue,because that is an area where we’realways in short supply.”

Stubsten said MCEDC also hasextended its partnership with the cityof Fairview, Fairview Chamber ofCommerce, Fairview Savings &Loan and Farmers & MerchantsBank to offer the Fairview store-front improvement contest.

The partner entities put up$11,000 last year to promoteimprovements to downtown busi-ness fronts.

The results of the first contestwere:

• First place, $5,000: CJ’sCountry Store.

• Second place, $3,000: SageBrush Junction.

• Third place, $2,000: Quick Rentto Own.

• Honorable mention, $500 each,Tin Lion Coffee House and Vine andBranches.

Stubsten said response was sogood for the first contest, the spon-sors have donated an equal amountof money to extend the contest to2013.

He said improving the aestheticsof Fairview’s downtown is impor-tant to the city’s efforts to bring inmore shoppers and tax revenue.

“If people drive through andeverything is decaying and goingsouth, we basically lose our taxbase,” Stubsten said. “We find thatpeople like to shop in a communitywhere it looks like something isgoing on and things are freshened upand clean.”

He said creating an attractivedowntown shopping scene is essen-tial to keeping shoppers’ money intown, and to attracting visitors.

MCEDC also is working toattract tourism to Major Countythrough partnerships with OklahomaTourism and Recreation Departmentand improvements to GlossMountain State Park, northwest ofFairview on U.S. 412.

MCEDC and Gloss MountainConservancy have undertaken sev-eral improvements in recent years atthe park, including addition of trailsand covered picnic pavilions. Theconservancy is working on plans toadd electric service and an ADAaccessible restroom at the park.

Stubsten said the improvementshave led to “tremendous growth inthe number of visitors” at the park,and helped increase the tourismdraw of the entire county.

The park and Major County alsogained some extra exposure this yearwhen OTRD selected GlossMountains as the cover photo for theannual state visitors’ guide.

“By doing some different thingsto improve the park we’ve seentremendous growth in tourism, andthat facility is becoming more andmore widely known all the time,”Stubsten said.

For information on events, attrac-tions and economic development inMajor County go to www.okmajordev.org.


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Fairview takes advantage of oil boom to shore up its economy

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ALVA — Business is booming,and growth in the oil industry isspreading expansion throughout thecommunity.

“Things are still going well,” saidAlexandra Mantz, with Alva’sCommunity and Economic Devel-opment Directors and director of AlvaChamber of Commerce. “People andbusinesses still call, interested inAlva.”

Play in the oil fields of northwestOklahoma has to led to “amazinggrowth in Alva’s tax base, as well asincreases in population.”

“We’ve got a lot of entrepreneurialbusinesses that have come in the lastyear,” Mantz said. “A lot of theirinterest is due to our growth.”

Like other cities benefiting fromthe oil boom, Alva has encounter anall too common problem — a housingshortage.

“We continue to have some hous-ing issues,” she said. “There is newhousing going in. People are building,which is exciting, but there is alwaysa demand for housing here.”

Mantz said the thought in Alvawas interest would wane and the callsfor information about the city wouldslow down toward the end of the year.

“Things have definitely picked upsince the new year and continue to bevery busy,” she said. “Our calls havenot dropped off for interest in Alva. Ifanything, we’re getting more callsthan we were at the end of the year.”

Mantz said oil boom has kept cur-rent businesses busy and brought inothers.

“Our restaurants are full. It’s anamazing time. We’ve had a lot ofentrepreneurial businesses,” she said.“Their sales are amazing. They couldcertainly attest to that. As far as newbusiness, we’ve got mom and popretail stores opening up, a new gym ...things keep popping up.”

City Manager Joe Don Dunhamsaid one hotel already has opened inAlva and another is being built.

He said Alva has experienced asecond boom.

“We’ve had some retail come totown,” he said. “We’ve had a retailboom.”

With such growth and an increasein tax revenues, Alva is working tofind the best avenues of growth,Dunham said.

He said there is a city initiatedcommunity effort to create a strategicplan for Alva with city officials and agroup of community stakeholders.

The purpose is to ensure the cityplans for future needs and not justwith the current windfall from the oilboom.

“That’s always a concern, tryingnot take on more than what you canpay for in the long run,” Dunhamsaid. “Right now, we’ve got a groupof concerned citizens that are workingon strategic plan for Alva that is abouthalfway through. We’re workingthrough that process.”

Mantz said the city is focusing onits needs with the added revenue.

“At this point, like any municipal-ity, we can’t spend it until we have it,”she said. “Our city is focusing on theneeds of the city.”

Dunham said one of the top prior-ities for Alva is street repairs.

“... Our streets are in dire need ofattention,” he said.

He said larger projects are beingconsidered with thoughts of overallcosts and long-term operations.Dunham said the city is also consider-ing other means of funding.

“We’re looking at different grants.That’s always a consideration,” hesaid, adding they must weigh thevalue of the grant with whether theycan afford the matching funds.

“We’re weighing all our options.We’re not passing anything up. We’relooking at everything.”

Alva concentrating onaddressing city’s needsduring oil, retail boom

AMAZING‘antime’

Staff photos by BILLY HEFTON


HENNESSEY — The town is developing a new marketingcampaign to “re-brand” the town’s image and attract new res-idents.

Hennessey United, the town of Hennessey and KJProductions of Enid are teaming to develop a consistent brandfor the town and develop new marketing materials.

Hennessey mayor Wes Hardin said the campaign was bornof a desire to market the community’s high quality of life toyoung families.

“We have a wonderful quality of life here in Hennessey, andwe’d like to get that message out to families,” Hardin said.

He said Hennessey is a great place to raise a family andoffers good opportunities to hard-working people.

“This is one of the last true free-market places in America,”Hardin said. “You can come here and if you want to work hardyou can make it.”

He said Hennessey offers prospective residents goodschools, two medical clinics and close proximity to hospitals inEnid and Oklahoma City, a good library, cheap utilities and arelatively low sales tax rate. Hennessey has a current city salestax rate of 3.5 percent and total combined sales tax rate, includ-ing the county and state rates, of 8.75 percent.

Hardin said the new marketing campaign is not just aboutattracting new residents and businesses — it’s about support-ing existing businesses.

“Sure, we want new businesses, but we definitely want tohelp the ones who have been here and stuck with us throughthe hard times,” Hardin said.

Jimmy Berkenbile, president of Hennessey United, said thenew marketing campaign will be an economic developmenttool to strengthen local businesses.

Hennessey United is a coalition of local civic leaders, townofficials and volunteers. It originally formed in 2000 asHennessey 2010 to form a 10-year vision for the town.

Berkenbile said the new brand and marketing campaignwill “help get everyone on the same page.”

“It will create a kind of trademark for our town that showsthe unity — what Hennessey is all about,” Berkenbile said.

Once the new brand is created, Berkenbile said HennesseyUnited hopes to form a coalition of downtown business own-ers, similar to a local chamber of commerce.

“In a small community the best way to get things done is ina united fashion,” Berkenbile said, “and that’s what we’re try-ing to do with this (branding campaign).”

Jack Quirk, president and CEO of KJ ProductionsMarketing Group, said the branding campaign will help createa unified image of Hennessey and its future.

“When the sign on the south end of town is different thanthe logo on the police cars, and that’s different than the sign onthe north end of town and the water tower, there’s no consis-tency,” Quirk said. “This will help create an image for thetown. They need a brand so they can say ‘this is us, this is whatwe do, and this is what we’re all about.’”

Quirk said he’s excited to be a part of the marketing cam-paign since Hennessey is his hometown.

“This has always been something I wanted to do, but I havenever had the opportunity before,” Quirk said. “The opportu-nity now is to try to help them with their branding, marketingand execution.”

Quirk is working with Friesen Designs of Enid to developthe logos and print marketing. Friesen Designs developed thelogos and marketing material in the city of Enid’s recent brand-ing campaign.

Quirk said the branding campaign will be a “multiple-yearprogram,” beginning with several months of initial develop-ment, already in progress.

IMAGEis everythingHennessey is rebranding to marketexisting business and attract growth


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By Phyllis ZornStaff Writer

LAMONT — WhenLorrie Desbien went througha nightmare no parent shouldhave to know — burying achild — one of herways to find peacewas to write a bookabout it.

That book, “Los-ing Sarah: AMother’s Journey toPeace,” was morethan her means ofexpressing herself. Itchronicles the firstdifficult year afterSarah Ray died in a car wreckon Interstate 35 the night ofthe Deer Creek-Lamont HighSchool homecoming.

Desbien had just begunteaching preschool at DCLAin August 2011. Sarah diedSept. 23, 2011.

Sarah decided to stay out awhile after the homecominggame. It wasn’t long after-ward two officers came to theDesbien home to notify thefamily that Sarah was dead.

“She was so easy to raise,such a good kid, and shemade good grades,” Desbiensaid. “She kind of had an oldsoul. I don’t know if she was-n’t meant for this world verylong and she just had a headstart, but she could alwayslook past the stuff that tripsthe rest of us up.”

Desbien said she purpose-fully waited a year afterSarah’s death to publish thebook about the family’s jour-ney after the loss.

“It told the story of whatwe’d been through,” Desbiensaid. “It began on homecom-ing night, and it ended on

homecoming night.”The final day of Sarah’s

life was well chronicled,Desbien said.

“There were so many pic-tures taken of her that day,”Desbien said. “There were a

lot of cameras outthat night.”

The small com-munities of DeerCreek and Lamontgathered around theDesbien familyimmediately.

“The homecom-ing queen came thatnight,” Desbien said.“She still had on her

crown. A couple of kidsstayed the night that night.”

Her students did littlethings like bring her cookies“to help her feel better.”Sarah’s fellow studentsmemorialized her in their ownways as well, like wearingher favorite color atimportant moments.

“At graduation lastyear all the boys wore pur-ple shirts under their capsand gowns,” Desbien said.

Supporting Desbienand her family in the wakeof the tragic death is part ofthe fabric the small town ismade of, Desbien said.

“It’s just like a familyhere,” Desbien said. “I can’tthink of a better place toheal than this place.”

The experience changedDesbien’s understanding ofthe world in many ways, butit brought one thing intoclear focus.

“I think the thing that Ihave pulled away from thissituation more than anythingelse is I know that I amloved,” Desbien said. “I knew

I was loved before, but I real-ly know that now.”

What she wishes the read-ers of “Losing Sarah” wouldunderstand is that others care.

“I wish that everyonecould know what I know now,without having to go throughthis,” Desbien said. “I wisheveryone could know thelevel of love that I know nowwithout having to lose achild.”

It’s too easy for people toget caught up in the unimpor-tant things, Desbien said.

“That stuff doesn’t mat-ter,” she said. “The only thingthat matters is love.”

Desbien lives in PoncaCity. She has a master’sdegree in education and amaster’s degree as a readingspecialist. She teachesEnglish at Deer Creek-Lamont High School.

To local author Lorrie Desbian, “Losing Sarah: A Mother’s Journey to Peace” (above) was more thanher means of expressing herself. It chronicles the first difficult year of life after Sarah Ray died in acar wreck on Interstate 35 the night of the Deer Creek-Lamont High School homecoming. Desbian, aDCLA teacher, said the support of the DCLA communities after the death of her daughter, Sarah Ray(left), was key in her survival during a dark time in her life. The book is available through bookstoresin the Ponca City area and online through Amazon.com. (Photos provided)

Lorrie Desbien

Writer: If all could know

without devastating loss LEVEL OF LOVE


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WAUKOMIS — This littletown on U.S. 81 is booming.

Waukomis is adding as manyas four businesses to the town:TNT Gunworks and Subway,construction of which along thehighway is nearly complete, andtwo more expected to open bysummer.

Waukomis Park Committee,Waukomis Public Schools, thecity of Waukomis and severalchurches and other donors recent-ly raised $22,000 to purchase anew, large LED sign for the town,said Tim Vanover, Waukomis vicemayor. The sign, placed in townpark, is used for town announce-

ments.Vanover said the town has two

more new signs welcoming peo-ple into Waukomis, one of whichis painted on a large propanetank.

“We’ve got a big propanetank,” said Vanover. “It’s one thatthe trucks fill out of. It’s ownedby the Ames Co-Op.”

Vanover said Waukomis FFAchapter painted the other newwelcome sign in Waukomis.

Construction and renovation inthe town of Waukomis is a sureindicator that the city is growing.

“The city of Waukomis hasconstructed a brand new shop andmaintenance building for cityemployees,” said Vanover. “TheC.F. Hays community building

has been renovated by theWaukomis Fair Board.”

Waukomis Cemetery sustaineddamage from a tornado last year,said Vanover, and there has beensome rebuilding at the cemetery.

“Waukomis Cemetery Boardbuilt a new maintenence build-ing,” said Vanover.

The cemetery board is seekingdonations to help pay for therepair and there will be a 5K race,the Sooner Celebration Run, inAugust to raise funds toward thatend.

Waukomis also boasts newhomes being built in the area.

“The new building addition,Chisholm Trail Estates, has twonew houses going up. Good-sizedhouses,” said Vanover.

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Waukomis Park Committee, Waukomis Public Schools, the city of Waukomis and severalchurches and other donors recently raised $22,000 to purchase a new, large LED sign for thetown, said Tim Vanover, Waukomis vice mayor. The sign, placed in the town park, is used fortown announcements. (Staff Photo by BILLY HEFTON)


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DRUMMOND — This northwest Oklaho-ma town may be small but it has a big heart.

Jeanne Mann, Drummond PTA treasurerand Drummond Community Club member,said residents of Drummond are focused on theschool, children and families of their town.

One of the unique ways Drummond PTAhas strived to help the school and the town’sresidents is byopening a thriftstore.

“We arecurrently openthe first andthird Saturdayof each monthfrom nine tonoon,” Mannsaid.

The town ofD r u m m o n dhas allowedthe PTA use ofa building ind o w n t o w nDrummond,and the thrift store workers are all volunteer.

“We’re raising money for new playgroundequipment for the elementary school,” saidMann. “It’ll take two or three or four years toraise the money for the playground.

“It’s been really successful. We price thingsreally low. All clothing is just one dollar,” saidMann.

The low pricing at the thrift store helpslocal residents purchase things they need fortheir families without having to leave town orspend a lot of money.

“It’s kind of a two-for-one benefit.” Donations to the thrift store may be

dropped off at Drummond Town Hall duringthe times the thrift store isn’t open. The storedoes not have space for large items but acceptsdonations of clothes, toys, small appliancesand other small household items.

Drummond PTA also hosts other fundrais-ers and helps purchase classroom supplies.

The school also is a main focus ofDrummond Community Club.

“We help out a lot of the school groups inDrummond. We also try to help families who

need assistance,” said Mann.On May 18, Drummond Community Club

will host Drummond Festival. Events willinclude a garage sale at the park, where resi-dents can sell their items out of the trunk oftheir cars. There also will be inflatable gamesfor the children, bingo hosted by theDrummond Public Schools quiz bowl team, acar show and a burn out. Lunch will be servedduring the festival.

Also during the festival will be a trap shootcompetition north ofDrummond Fire Station.

Locals may bringtheir own firearms andammunition, and theclay targets will be pro-

vided. Earlyregistration isrequired forthe trap shoot.Town ofDrummond’snumber is 493-2900.

DrummondCommuni tyClub membersalso work to

host a watermelon feed fundraiser in the fall.“It’s nice to be able to have a way to help

out,” she said. “Anybody from the Drummondcommunity is welcome to be a part of the com-munity club.”

The town of Drummond also has been hardat work assuring quality water service.

“We have our new pump house up,” saidKarla Stanley, Drummond town clerk. “Wefinally got it up and going. So far our water isdoing good.”

Drummond also recently hired a new watersupervisor, Dan Kehnemund, who acted tomake sure Drummond residents had waterduring the recent power outage by fillingDrummond’s water tank prior to the Feb. 25snowstorm, said Stanley.

The town has several businesses includinga welding service, lawn care service, bank,post office and quick shop. Drummond alsocontracts with Garfield County Sheriff’sDepartment for a sheriff deputy locally.

Drummond city elections will be April 2,and the positions up for election include fourtrustees, town clerk and treasurer.

Staff Photo by BILLY HEFTON

Drummond: Smalltown, big HEART

“We help out a lot of the schoolgroups in Drummond. We also try tohelp families who need assistance.”

Jeanne Mann,Drummond Community Club member“


WOODWARD — Nearly a year after a tor-nado that caused millions in damage and tookthe lives of six people ripped through this city,the community still is recovering.

The storm struck shortly after midnightApril 15, 2012, killing six and injuring 36 peo-ple. The storm impacted 224 homes and busi-nesses in Woodward County. Of those, 73were destroyed, 22 sustained major damageand 21 had minor damage.

Woodward City Manager Alan Riffel saidrecovery is ongoing.

“There are a lot of things under way,” hesaid. “Homes have been rebuilt. We are seeinga lot of those areas that were hit the hardestbeing built back at this point.”

While the process of repairing, and rebuild-ing in some cases, has been difficult, therehave been improvements made following thewake of the storm’s damage.

“The movie theater was damaged heavily,”Riffel said. “We had a deal in place for a newtheater that was to be built there, and it accel-erated that process.

“That now has been opened sinceSeptember. It’s active and very successful. Itwent from a two-screen theater to a six-screenmultiplex.”

Improvements also are being made atHideaway Trailer Park, where four of the vic-tims of the storm died.

“That was taken over by a new ownershipgroup. That has been upgraded and beenrebuilt,” Riffel said. “There are a lot ofimprovements that have come from thisprocess as well.”

He said if something came back better thanit was before, that was a “positive step.”

With the help of a $350,000 donation fromApache Corp., an independent oil and gas andexploration company, Woodward has beenable to upgrade its storm siren warning system

which includes battery backup and redundantcontrols.

“It was an excellent gift and very benevo-lent on their part,” Riffel said. “All storm sirensare in place with battery backup. We’re in theprocess now of handing off to neighboringcommunities those sirens that were salvagedfrom our former system to help some smallercommunities in our area have warning sys-tems.”

Riffel said the gift from Apache Corp. notonly benefited Woodward but many othercommunities in northwest Oklahoma.

Following the storm, Riffel said Woodwardwas reminded of the spirit of Oklahomans bygenerosity that poured into the community .

“It reassured of what level of spirit is alivein Oklahoma and northwest Oklahoma in par-ticular,” the city manager said.

It wasn’t just people, church or civic groupsthat donated time and money in the storm’s

aftermath. Oil and energy companies donatedgenerously as well, Riffel said.

The companies donated heavy equipmentand labor to help with cleanup efforts, Riffelsaid, saving victims time and countless dollars.

“It was a generous performance by thosecompanies,” he said. “It offset a lot of the costto victims and a lot of the costs to the commu-nity.”

Riffel said the generosity also poured infrom out of state. When Red Cross arrived to

provide relief efforts, they commented this wasthe only disaster response effort that was fullyfunded without bringing in other funds.

A local group of relief agencies and com-munity volunteers formed to create RecoveryWoodward, to help coordinate relief effortsand create caseworker system to aid victims

The group raised money to help individualson a case by case basis by working with sever-al area relief organizations.

“Over $600,000 was raised to help victimsreplace what wasn’t covered by insurance,”Riffel said. “We learned there is a lot of heart.It was very reassuring of what the spirit of peo-ple and the generosity of people is at a timewhen it is very critical.”

Riffel said even his peers offered any helpthey could following the tornado.

“City managers across the state called andasked, ‘What we can do to help,’’” he said.“Enid is a prime example.”

Riffel said Enid City Manager EricBenson called the morning of the storm,offering to help.

“Two days later I was returning hiscall for a couple of grappling truckswe needed to help clear some lots,”he said. “He offered to send operatorsalong with those trucks. Eric Bensonwas the first one to be on my phoneafter the storm.”

Riffel said other cities with similarexperiences offered tips from lessonsthey’d learned in their own storms.He said city officials from Joplin,Mo., shared their tornado experiencewith key city of Woodward staff in aconference call following the storm.

“They spent a couple of hours onthe phone with us and helping usunderstand what their lessons were in

their major tornado,” he said. “The lesson, thepoints they shared with us were very helpful.”

He said Woodward received outreach fromall levels following the tornado.

“We had a lot of people coming in saying,‘We will cook for whoever wants to come eat.We’ll be cooking here, and we’ll being goinginto the neighborhoods,’” Riffel said. “We hadgroups say we will go into fields where debrisis scattered and go and pick it up and bag it.

“It’s quite remarkable.”


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The State ExchangeBank opened in SaltFork, Oklahoma onOctober 1, 1901. As aresult of circum-stances brought aboutby the nation’s finan-cial crisis in the earlyThirties, the bank wasmoved to Lamont in1935. Since its begin-

ning, the bank has remained a locally-owned, independ-ent community bank.

We know you have many choices when it comes tofinancial institutions, and we strive to be your best finan-cial partner. With familiar faces and trusted service, ourphilosophy has been to treat our customers as we wouldlike to be treated. If you have any questions about any ofyour banking needs, feel free to call us, or better yet, stopby the bank. We will be happy to help!

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In a probate, property willbe distributed pursuant tothe Oklahoma rules ofintestacy.

Typically, someone’ssurviving spouse and/orchildren will inherit theproperty.

Grandchildren, parents,siblings, and other relativesmay also inherit an interestin the land. If your lovedone owed anyone money,those creditors may haveinterest in the property aswell.Jessica L. Caruthers

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Woodward coming backafter deadly 2012 storm

SILVER LININGa dark cloud’s

Woodward continues to rebuild its homes and businesses aftera deadly tornado hit in 2012. (CNHI Photo / Woodward News)The tornado is seen in a lightning flash (right) as it hits thewestern edge of Woodward just after midnight Sunday, April15, 2012. (CNHI News Service / Woodward News video)

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